Technology
The Technology & Innovation Association (TINA for short) is a Lovian enterprise that creates and produces high tech material such as computer chips, electronic circuits and even virtual technologies. TINA is a unique corporation because it has no ordinary business structure. TINA is headed by an elected board of directors and the companies managers try to be as transparent and fair in their decisions as possible. The initiative for TINA was taken by Yuri Medvedev who choose this sector because of the relative lack of competition on the Lovian market. TINA has a gross revenue of approximately 15 million dollar a year. Experimental structure The Technology & Innovation Association has an almost unique business organization, hence the word 'association' in the companies name instead of 'company' or 'firm'. The idea is based upon similar experimental organizations in Chili and the United States in the 70's and 80's. Businessman Yuri Medvedev funded the entire initiative. In time however, TINA seeks to repay this money to keep its independence. Medvedev hopes to use the outcome of the experiments to create a model that can be more generally applied. The idea behind TINA's organizational structure is that the employees are more motivated if their share in the companies profit is more equal. Therefore, there are no big bonuses for the chairmen and extra spending such as business meals or oversea trips are kept to a minimum. Also, to assure that the company directors act in the good of the company instead of following their own interests, the board of directors is elected by the entire staff. Currently, the experiment is still in an early stage and already several problems have been encountered. In spite of this seemingly handicap, TINA manages to make an estimated profit of 15 million dollars a year. This is thought to be due to the relative lack of competition in the sector. Also, the good name the company makes for itself because of its 'fairness' helps to get major contracts. Economists and businessman have reacted divided on the initiative, from praising it as 'a glimpse of the refreshing creativity that awaits us in the future' to 'a noble attempt but nonetheless a disaster to be'. Technologies and contracts The Technology & Innovation Association designs, assembles and distributes high tech materials such as computer chips and electronic circuits. The company specializes in smart technologies and has various partners as well inland as abroad. The main foreign areas of distribution are the United States' East coast and central regions, Scandinavian Europe and South East Asia. A list of contracts with Lovian based companies is found below: * Commercial Lovian Networks: design and production of the Digital Environment hardware for subsidiary LTV * Commercial Lovian Networks: equipping the companies radio towers with a compatible LORAT-system * Lovian Cable Company: equipping the companies radio towers with a compatible LORAT-system * Ecompany: design and production of a new Smart Operation System (SOS) for the main subsidiaries DigiKey DigiKey is a hardware product constructed by TINA for Commercial Lovian Networks. It enables a television to receive and decode the digital signal of LTV's Digital Environment. It makes use of DVB-T (Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting) technology which transmits the signal through the ether by means of several radio towers. Because of the cutting-edge system the DigiKey allows an impeccable image without any noise. The DigiKey also allows a conversion of the analog television signal into a digital one, enhancing the quality of the viewing experience. The DigiKey is to be connected to the television by either a SCART-connection to convert the received digital signal into a compatible signal for RGB-televisions or an HDMI-connection for HD-televisions. TINA is currently dealing with administrational issues to start up a line of HD-televisions with a build-in DigiKey-based interface. These are expected to be produced near the end of the summer this year and would make all cable connections unnecessary. LORAT LORAT stands for Long Range Transmitting, a radio mast technology designed for telecommunication and broadcasting over great distances. This technology is essentially advanced radio technology. The LORAT-device is to be installed in a radio tower, which can then pick up broadcasting station signals within a certain radius and pass them off to a receiver. The broadcasting station and receiver are thus linked along a certain radio frequency. The data is encoded by the radio waves and passed forth between broadcaster and receiver. Unique is that the towers can also communicate with each other, making it possible for the user to move out of range of one tower and into the range of another without loosing the signal. This allows the broadcaster to cover an infinite area with only one broadcasting station. This technology was contracted by both the Lovian Cable Company and Commercial Lovian Networks. Both companies intend to use it for broadcasting their television channels. CLN will also use it for the distribution of its Digital Environment. Though LORAT offers various possibilities in its use, most (possible) contractors are television providers. Smart Operation System Smart Operation System (SOS) is an attempt at real-time computer-controlled planning of a companies internal working. It is essentially a network of computers that link different operators (factories, depots, etc.) with a single computer centre which controls the overall working. The computer centre makes use of several numbers, such as raw material input, production output and number of absentees. Short-term predictions and necessary adjustments can be made to maximize the companies production rates. There are four levels of control from firm to sector that communicate with an algedonic feedback, meaning that if a lower level of control can't remedy a problem in a certain interval, the higher level is notified. The software for SOS uses Bayesian filtering and is written by 12 Lovian programmers. It compromises enterprise resource planning and market efficiency. SOS is based upon the Cybersyn project of the Chilean government in the '70s and is already contracted by Ecompany. The money needed for the expensive research and equipment came from the contractor and private funders Yuri Medvedev and August M. Donia. Category:Company